With 1945 approaching it's time to think of the end game and what to do to get there.

I need about 11,000 more VP's to achieve the 2:1 ratio needed for auto-victory in 1945. From reading the manual AGAIN I assume whenever I get to 2:1 in VP's it will kick in and Ill get the auto-victory. If I didn't achieve that I'd need 1.75:1 by August 1945.

I've attached a screenshot of the 'Empire'. Don't be fooled by the large swathes of Jap held bases in the Pacific Islands and Java. They're in essence cut-off with no way of any supply or material reaching or leaving them.

No further Oil will be coming from the SRA either as the Oilfields on Java and Borneo are all under Allied eyes and air/seapower.

Overall I really salute Faber for carrying on as it's been a tough and hard game for him for over a year of game time now.

Nonetheless, I have to plan further operations until we achieve Auto-Victory and the Japs surrender.

With additional recon being carried out over the past 2 weeks I'm quite clear as to where I'm going to invade next.

Here's a summary of estimated Jap Troop levels according to intel. I'm working on the assumption that 100K men is about 2000 raw AV.

Burma: If intel is accurate Faber still has about 300,000 men in the Rangoon/Moulmein area = 6000 AV. In some ways its not surprising as I had about 10-11,000 AV of men when I tried to advance through the invincible jungle. I still have 6,500 AV up here keeping him honest.

Indochina/Thailand: There's about 2,000 AV worth here with 600 of that in Bangkok, 200 in Cam Ranh Bay and a few other units dotted around here and there.

Borneo - Only small units spread out. About 600 AV total.

Java - About 100,000 men mainly in Batavia and Soerabaya = 2000 AV.

Celebes/Timor - Scattered units. About 200 AV worth.

Pacific Islands - really hard to say how much is still down/trapped in these but there's at least 100,000 men in the Mariana's and Caroline's alone.....

Luzon - Unknown as recon has not got to there recently.

Operations in CentPac are still on-going - Iwo Jima invasion in December followed up by Daito Shoto if Iwo Jima is successful.

The 2nd thrust into the Philippines is also on-going with over 2500 AV on Mindanao and advancing from Davao. I expect to have most of Mindanao under my control by 1945 and the aim is to them land on Southern Luzon.

That leaves all the Allied troops at Singapore.

I am currently thinking of landing in Indo-China and most likely west/south-west of Saigon. I can bring 4,500 AV to the party with 2,000 guns and 1,000 tanks. My reasoning for going here is I should be able to overwhelm whatever Faber has there now and I can potentially cut off his Army in Burma and his forces still in Malaya (40-50K men) IF he doesn't withdraw in time. If he does withdraw = great as I can take Rangoon and it will free up another 6,500 AV in Burma for me. If he doesn't withdraw I'll keep Burma as a prison camp and advance un IndoChina and in to China and Hong Kong. The game will most likely be over by then anyhow.........

Sounds like a solid plan. 11k VPs shouldn´t be a problem to achieve at this stage! I got 17k during the last 100 turns. Thats about 12k plus. Clark and Manila alone is something like 3500 VPs. Another 1000 for HK and you are almost there!

But I think given your complete air and naval supremacy I would probably try and land a little bit further East if you feel its doable. Thailand/Indochina isn´t really necessary at this point is it? Havn´t looked at the VPs though. Lots of small bases there that might add up when summed up.

Hi Speedy just wanted to say what a great AAR and much kudos to you and your opponent on getting to the end game. I find it particularly impressive as I am running through the first turn of my first campaign and after what seems like a million left clicks of the mouse I am almost at the point where I can unleash the end turn button (repetitive wrist strain anyone). God only knows how many mouse clicks have brought you to the position you are now

As for advice (which is probably safe to ignore from a newb) I would agree with JocMeister. Looks like Japans navy and air force are all but destroyed and you are after VPs to get auto victory. I'm guessing the force in Singapore could now transit the South China Sea in relative safety to allow you to grab fighter bases on Formosa or the island chain SW of Japan which would allow you to ramp up the strategic campaign on Japan and possibly allow you to use your other 4E bombers.

What is your situation in NORPAC are you in the postion to grab any of the Kuriles to allow you to conduct fighter sweeps over the north of Japan?

I've been thinking on things over night and I think I'll re-start using B29's for night bombing over Japan rather than supporting Iwo Jima. It was a tough choice but I can net 1000's of VP's with Strat bombing and it just means Iwo may take a little longer.

I'm very comfortable of getting 11K VP's I just want them before 1945 to get the Auto Victory at the earliest point!

Interesting thoughts on where I should land next though....my reason for choosing Indochina is to cut-off 6000 AV of Jap troops in Burma OR to force them to withdraw and I can take Rangoon worth 2K VP's. You're right though I could contemplate landing near Hong Kong for example? Formosa would need to wait until I'm secure on Luzon (after Mindanao) or Iwo Jima/Okinawa.....hmm. Decisions decisions....

Hi Speedy just wanted to say what a great AAR and much kudos to you and your opponent on getting to the end game. I find it particularly impressive as I am running through the first turn of my first campaign and after what seems like a million left clicks of the mouse I am almost at the point where I can unleash the end turn button (repetitive wrist strain anyone). God only knows how many mouse clicks have brought you to the position you are now

As for advice (which is probably safe to ignore from a newb) I would agree with JocMeister. Looks like Japans navy and air force are all but destroyed and you are after VPs to get auto victory. I'm guessing the force in Singapore could now transit the South China Sea in relative safety to allow you to grab fighter bases on Formosa or the island chain SW of Japan which would allow you to ramp up the strategic campaign on Japan and possibly allow you to use your other 4E bombers.

What is your situation in NORPAC are you in the postion to grab any of the Kuriles to allow you to conduct fighter sweeps over the north of Japan?

Hi Powloon,

Many thanks for your comments and you're right it's taken years of RL to get to this points and 10'000's of mouse clicks!

I certainly have naval and air supremacy. Transiting across the South China Sea would be do-able with the Brit CV Fleets but it would be risky when I neared Hong Kong/Luzon as Faber would have many high level airfields and could muster 100's/1000 planes. Sheer numbers would probably wear my CAP down.

As such I feel going for Formosa directly from Singapore JUST with Brit CV's would be too risky (the US CV's are needed to enable the Iwo Jima and Daito Shoto invasions. I am thinking more about landing near Hong Kong now though as it's not too far away from Singapore. I could land the 4,500 AV there and use a follow up 1000 AV to land later on in the rear at Indo China to create a land bridge. Hmm. Thoughts.....

As for Okinawa I have Us CentPAc forces already preparing for their and, IF the game carries on long enough, I'll be landing there after Daito Shoto falls.

NorPac would be do-able but I have no forces planned or preparing for up here so probably not worth the diversion at this stage.

I've been thinking on things over night and I think I'll re-start using B29's for night bombing over Japan rather than supporting Iwo Jima. It was a tough choice but I can net 1000's of VP's with Strat bombing and it just means Iwo may take a little longer.

I'm very comfortable of getting 11K VP's I just want them before 1945 to get the Auto Victory at the earliest point!

Interesting thoughts on where I should land next though....my reason for choosing Indochina is to cut-off 6000 AV of Jap troops in Burma OR to force them to withdraw and I can take Rangoon worth 2K VP's. You're right though I could contemplate landing near Hong Kong for example? Formosa would need to wait until I'm secure on Luzon (after Mindanao) or Iwo Jima/Okinawa.....hmm. Decisions decisions....

I think thats the right call! I have had my B29 do other things from time to time. Besides one really nice port attack sinking ALOT of subs its never been worth it. And with the critical pools you really can´t afford even the slightest losses!

BTW, I may have misunderstood something but I don´t think you need to rush with the VPs. If I understood it correctly you have the entire 45 to get to 2:1?

I forgot that Rangoon is that much VPs. But perhaps having your opponent guard it with 6000 AV is a pretty good deal? As long as you can grab 2700 VPs somewhere else thats a good deal for you I think?

Hi Jocke - Yes there's no rush in gaining the VP's I just want to personally get there ASAP! I'm thinking long and hard on where to send the Malaya Army. I am very tempted by the Hong Kong landings with a secondary follow up in IndoChina to seal off Thailand and Burma for good. The challenge with Hong Kong is where to land! The attached screenshot shows the dilemma. If I land to the west at Kwangchowan (I could just land at friendly held Pakhoi of course and march overland) I'll have to shock assault at Canton. If I land to the east of Hong Kong it's a long march overland.

I'm recon'ing Hong Kong tomorrow and Canton the day after.

Maybe I'll land at Pakhoi and march overland........VERY tempted by this.

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CentPac:

The suppression bombing at Iwo Jima continue with 4E from Guam as the CV attack planes bombed the troops for the first time on the 4th. Not bad results:

Also spotted were 52nd Division, 19th Army and 2 x BF. The CV's will carry on doing this for a while yet.

B29's were rested for the first 3 days but Guam's contingent flew 40 on the 4th an knocked out Takamtasu's HI in a daylight strike. Only a few fighters were on CAP which shot down 2 bombers. Tinian's contingent will bomb Osaka tomorrow night all being well.

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SRA:

On Mindanao troops have march westwards from Davao and caught the Japanese defenders south of Cotabato. We'll attack tomorrow. 3 small enemy units are reported in Cotabato as well.

A Small Jap SC TF tried to approach Mindanao on the 1st. CVE TB's set off and sank CL Isuzu with 4 torpedoes.

Recon also detected what looks like 3/4 enemy merchant TF's around Balikpapan/Tarakan. I'm assuming these are ships caught in the region after I took Singapore/Davao. The 2 x CVE TF's will sail west from Davao to intercept.

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Malaya/Borneo:

As mentioned in a previous post my Brit CV's finished off most of the TF Convoy off Balabac on the 1st. What appeared to be naval remnants from Brunei fled NW towards Bangkok on the 1-3rd. My CV's chased after them but couldn't catch them and headed back to Singapore on the 4th to re-arm and refuel.

Bangkok has 200 enemy fighters according to recon. I'm not keen to engage them in the air so I'm sneaking up a Bombardment TF from Singapore to try and intercept the enemy ships and shell the AF's.

52nd Division was bombed on Iwo Jima causing a further 100 casualties. Also identified the Tonei Heavy Gun Rgt. Hmm.

B29's hit Osaka Manpower (night) causing a few thousand fires. We go again tomorrow. Guam's allotment hit the Engine Facs at Takamatsu only damaging 4. There were 30ish enemy fighters on CAP (even Nates and Claudes LOL) which shot down 4 B29s. We go again tomorrow as well.

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SRA:

A picture can paint a thousand words and the below Screenshot shows the situation on Mindanao (where Advance Allied forces smashed the ragged Japanese remnants into Cotabato. We await the Americal Division which is arriving tomorrow before we cross the river), my CVE TF's to the west and the Jap TF's trying to break out from the SRA (Balikpapan) and one which snuck in from Japan (Tarakan) to nab some more oil.

Not only are my TBM's having fun but Ventura and Mitchells based at Davao are also targeting enemy shipping.

Hi Speedy I can't see that you've mentioned recently what is happening in China. Are your Chinese LCUs in any fit state to support your possible landing near Hong Kong? Any chance they could conduct there own offensive to grab some of the coastal cities?

Hi Powloon - China has been a dead theatre since mid 1942. I stalled Faber across China (other than SE China which he took all of early on) but I've not had the supply to conduct any offensives of my own. I've spent the time building up all the bases I can and filling out my units with replacements in readiness for ay late war offensive with additional supply. I've attached a screenshot of southern China for your reference. In short they can't conduct an offensive on their own but with Allied landings and oodles of supply they can certainly help out!

I'm veering more and more towards a Landing in SW China either at Pakhoi (friendly) or Haiphong (Japanese) or maybe even at Hong Kong direct if it really only have 3 units and 15K men.

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CentPac:

Further night raids over Osaka increase fires up to 7000 by days end.

The daylight raid on Hamamatsu damages another 25 engine factory points and loses 3 x B29 in the process.

CV Air smacks Iwo Jima Naval Guard unit for another 150 casualties.

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SRA:

My 2 x CVE TF stay on station SE of Borneo and Faber conducts a 5 x DD Kamaikaze TF right in to their path. They do land a few shells on 2 x CVE (nothing major - 11 SYS) and badly shoot up 2 x Fletchers but in return all 5 Jap DD are lost either in the fire fight or by TBM's in the day. an AV (Kunikawa Maru) and SC Escort are sunk off Balikpapan with the remaining 2 x Jap convoys fleeing back to Soerabaya. My CVE's will follow.

North of Borneo the Jap TF reaches Miri as my SC TF shells Brunei and looks what she finds in port:

For what its worth I would do as you are tempted to do. Land at Pakhoi. Supply to the Chinese is a huge deal! Besides its all clear hexes from there to the east. And there are plenty of places to cross over to Canton.

Thanks Jocke. I've now 100% decided this is what I'm going to do land at Pakhoi and march (most of) the army to the east to take Hong Kong. A section of the army will move westwards to secure Vietnam and Indo China. Thanks for the your thoughts.

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CentPac:

Bad weather prevented many air raids on Iwo Jima but the B29's managed to hit Osaka overnight bringing the fires up to 27,000. Additional damage was done to some of the HI/LI which is good.

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SRA:

Troops continue to move on Mindanao and should reach Cotabato in 2/3 days time.

As US CVE's continue to chase 2 enemy TF's westwards round the SW tip of Borneo (not launching any raids today) the Brits were in full swing today starting with the BB raid on Bangkok:

The Japs sent a 5 x DD TF to try to ward of my ships but to no avail as we steamed on sinking DD Tanikaze in the process.

I'm directing all of the transports used for Mindanao (and the US CVE/BB TF's) to Singapore to assist in the upcoming landings at Pakhoi. It will be several weeks before this is launched while we await supply and the shipping. The game could of course be over by then if I reach 2:1 in VP's.

We'll now press on further north to occupy Cagayan and the other small settlements.

Further to the west, between my CVE and Brit CV TF's they wipe out all but a few Jap escorts from the trapped Jap convoys. In total about 25 enemy AK, TK, AO, E, PB and AM ships were sunk over the 3 days.

My BB TF, that shelled Bangkok on the 7th, bumped into the same small Jap DD TF they encountered on their way in. In a short and sharp fire fight DD Asashimo and Oboro were sunk and Nizam fell on the Allied side.

At Singapore troops are continuing to rest and prepare for the China operation whilst we await additional supply and fuel convoys.

The Fleet continues to sit off Iwo Jima and pound away at enemy ground units there (about 1/2 days) causing about 100 casualties per strike. I'm in no immediate rush to land here so will do this for a few more weeks at least.

I shuttle CV TF's back to PH when they need to replenish keeping more than enough ion hand to deal with any potential Combined Fleet threat.

Osaka has been the main target for Mariana based B29's over the past 2 weeks. On average 10-40 B29's bomb the city every night with only a few Jap fighters interfering now and then. I've attached a screenshot of the current damage.

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SRA:

The Land Lubbers continue to push forward on Mindanao smashing the Japanese roadblock west of Cagayan on the 13th. Troops are fanning out across the Island now and aim to encircle the Japs at Cagayan before attacking.

Recon elements reached Cagayan on the 16th and shelling will commence on the 18th.

It's been quiet elsewhere as the ships muster and the troops rest at Singapore.

Ironically SigInt and recon has detected a number of enemy land and ships units moving to Hong Kong.

Although I'm going to have to wait a few more weeks before we can send troops to China I've decided it's too good an opportunity to just sit back. As such 2 x Brit CV and 2 x CVE TF's (5 x CV, 1 x CVL, 18 x CVE) are leaving Singapore tomorrow to interdict and attack enemy positions around Hong Kong. I'm hoping to encounter major enemy naval units in the area (a sub minelayer scouted Manila harbour the other day for example locating 2 x BB's (Ise/Hyuga).

A few small Jap ships were hunted down by DD TF's around Java/Celebes with 5 confirmed sunk (E and PB's).

The Japs holed up at Praboemoelih (Sumatra) and suffering daily air and land bombardments faced an Allied assault on the 16th:

The Allies continue to re-occupy Mindanao. The only Jap held centres are the nearly surrounded Cagayan garrison and a small Jap force at Zamboanga.

My combined Brit CV/CVE Fleet's headed east from Singapore and has had an action packed 20-22nd December off Luzon and Hong Kong. The first encounters with Jap shipping occurred west of Luzon when a mixture of Merchant and Military (CA/CL's) were detected at Manila on the 20th. 4 x AK and CL Abukuma were reported sunk. There was no enemy air interference on either the 20th or 21st.

On the 21st the Fleet moved northwards to a position midway between Luzon and Hong Kong. Jap Naval elements attempted to engage my CV's at night but the escorts performed well like in the battle below:

Air raids during the day finished off CA Nachi, CL Kiso and DD Nowaki.

The 22nd saw the Fleets south of Hong Kong and amidst a range of enemy TF's trying to get away from and harbouring near Hong Kong. The jackpot was the locating of and sinking of the 2 Hybrid BB's Ise and Hyuga.

Unfortunately my CV's are low on ammo and virtually out of torpedoes. As such we're retiring back to Singapore. I'll keep an eye on the Hong Kong area with recon and potentially return when I've re-armed.

I'll probably be ready to send troops to the area (via Pakhoi) in the next few weeks anyhow.

seeing these SC TFs of all kind beating up CV TFs in the game is just beyond ridicoulos, really don't know why there was never any attempt to do something about it. This is like an alpha version pre release that needs an urgent fix. A good halve dozen DD mopping up several CVE plus two destroyers, yeah, for sure. Sorry, just ridicoulos and the only reason for this in the game is that funny logic that a SC TF got no problem beating up a CV TF because of it's designation, no matter what escorts there are. Seen this happen just far too often already, what a BS.

seeing these SC TFs of all kind beating up CV TFs in the game is just beyond ridicoulos, really don't know why there was never any attempt to do something about it. This is like an alpha version pre release that needs an urgent fix. A good halve dozen DD mopping up several CVE plus two destroyers, yeah, for sure. Sorry, just ridicoulos and the only reason for this in the game is that funny logic that a SC TF got no problem beating up a CV TF because of it's designation, no matter what escorts there are. Seen this happen just far too often already, what a BS.

The Allied CVE TF (25 ships) was simply too large to fight efficiently; in the game, TF's containing 15+ ships generally suck in Surface Combat (not CV TF related; see 6.2. of the rules which gives a hint about this).

I agree. More than once my CV TF have retreated from a SC TF. I rarely have more then 15 ships in CV or SC TF.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Kereguelen

quote:

ORIGINAL: castor troy

seeing these SC TFs of all kind beating up CV TFs in the game is just beyond ridicoulos, really don't know why there was never any attempt to do something about it. This is like an alpha version pre release that needs an urgent fix. A good halve dozen DD mopping up several CVE plus two destroyers, yeah, for sure. Sorry, just ridicoulos and the only reason for this in the game is that funny logic that a SC TF got no problem beating up a CV TF because of it's designation, no matter what escorts there are. Seen this happen just far too often already, what a BS.

The Allied CVE TF (25 ships) was simply too large to fight efficiently; in the game, TF's containing 15+ ships generally suck in Surface Combat (not CV TF related; see 6.2. of the rules which gives a hint about this).

My view is it could happen but would be quite an unlikely result to occur in RL.

In game terms the TF may be less efficient but my view is the most likely result in RL would be the escorts seeing off the DD's whilst the CVE's escaped.

It could have happened though so not mega upset.

As an FYI I often find I run 25 x ship CVE tf's as there's just not enough escorts to go around to clump them in 10-15 ship TF's and I also like the extra AA (even if less efficient) and if it hadn't reacted the SC TF should have done its job

seeing these SC TFs of all kind beating up CV TFs in the game is just beyond ridicoulos, really don't know why there was never any attempt to do something about it. This is like an alpha version pre release that needs an urgent fix. A good halve dozen DD mopping up several CVE plus two destroyers, yeah, for sure. Sorry, just ridicoulos and the only reason for this in the game is that funny logic that a SC TF got no problem beating up a CV TF because of it's designation, no matter what escorts there are. Seen this happen just far too often already, what a BS.

The Allied CVE TF (25 ships) was simply too large to fight efficiently; in the game, TF's containing 15+ ships generally suck in Surface Combat (not CV TF related; see 6.2. of the rules which gives a hint about this).

Kereguelen, this doesn't make it any better, does it? It's flawed and I am sure you can't really deny this. I have long accepted it, but that doesn't make it right. And if this TF would have had a hundred ships and whatever designation, the chance for this outcome would have been 1:1,000,000,000. Yes, there is the chance to see those destroyers whiping the floor with the whole USN but the chance is so small, one shouldn't see it happening that often. And I have seen it far too often.

And "rule" from the manual or not, CV TFs do seem to particularly suck. And that's the flaw, you really think a billion of escorts would fail to defend halve a dozen CVE because more than 15 ships in a TF suck? Sorry, but that kind of reality thinking is beyond me. The reason to have escorts in a TF is to defend the task force, not sitting there watching halve a dozen enemy destroyers shooting up the carriers in the middle of the task force. WRONG I say, just wrong.

Someone saying right, ok with me, not going to discuss anything else with him anymore as this is beyond sanity then. I can accept flaw(s) in the game (at some point in time) but I can't accept saying the flaw isn't one and it might even be realistic or sane.

Regardless of being realistic or not, Faber deserves this "bone" to keep him fighting. 90% of Jap players would have thrown in the towel by this point in this particular game. In my only game playing as the Allies my opponent has quit at the beginning of 43 because our game was no longer a one sided punch bag of the Allies.

Regardless of being realistic or not, Faber deserves this "bone" to keep him fighting. 90% of Jap players would have thrown in the towel by this point in this particular game. In my only game playing as the Allies my opponent has quit at the beginning of 43 because our game was no longer a one sided punch bag of the Allies.

Yup - if I were Faber's opponent the last I would do is say something like "Oh, that was so unrealistic!". Kudos to Faber and his worthy opponent Speedy.